27.3.2022 11:46
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By the end of the first period of the NHL Boston Bruins – New York Islanders (6: 3), less than 15 seconds were missing, when the home team managed to score for the first time after two goals. Zdena Chára’s shot from the blue line bounced off the construction of the home goal and Brock Nelson was given a backhand puck behind Linus Ullmark’s back.
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While Nelson reached the limit of 30 goals scored in a season, Chara scored the tenth assist. He is still waiting for the first goal of this year’s competition, although he was able to symbolically shoot it for the team in whose jersey he played for 14 seasons and as a captain he also raised the Stanley Cup over his head.
Even so, 45-year-old Chara reached a remarkable statistical moment. For the twenty-first time in his career, he has had a season in which double-digit points shine on his behalf.
For the first time, he succeeded in the New York Islanders jersey at the turn of the century in 1999/2000. At that time he scored 11 points in 65 matches, now he has 10 in 54 duels. If Char also manages to score by the end of the season, his coach Barry Trotz will reportedly be so pleased that he will be willing to break the competition rules.
“When Zdeno scores a goal, I’ll send each player off the bench to the ice. We’ll take those two penalty minutes.” said Barry Trotz after the previous winning match against Detroit (5: 2), he is quoted by the specialized website slovaknhl.sk. Even then, the more than two-meter skate field was close to scoring a goal, but in the end it didn’t work out for him.
So far, Chara has scored in each of his previous 23 seasons in the NHL, with the exception of the first 1997/1998. At that time, however, as a newcomer to the Islanders jersey, he played only 25 matches and scored the only assist. “You could see how the bench reacted. It didn’t fall there in the end. It was close, and if he had another shot, he’d definitely put it there.” Trotz added after the fight with Detroit.
New York Islanders coach Barry Trotz
Zdroj: SITA / AP
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Char currently ranks 29th in the NHL’s historic Defender Productivity Chart. He has 676 points on his account and only one is missing to equalize American Kevin Hatcher. Behind the Slovaks in 30th place is still active Swede Erik Karlsson, who is 20 points behind Char. The native of Trenčín is also the leader of the historical order of defenders in the number of matches played in the basic part of the NHL. His current 1,662 duels are 11 more than the American legend Chris Chelios.
A big gesture from Tomáš Tatar, he gave a hockey stick to a Slovak fan after the match:
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